My Approach to Cropping

Posted on May 3, 2018

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

One question I’m often asked during workshops is my opinion on cropping photographs. As someone who grew up shooting film I’ve always believed that you cropped in-camera but as I shot more and more using a 6×6 format Hasselblad, I came to realize that some kind of cropping is inevitable and I’m becoming less dogmatic about this with digital capture as I get older

You can use Photoshop to crop after you shoot an image, producing the exact image you had in your mind but when you do there’s a price: You’re tossing away pixels. This is what’s wrong with the so-called digital zoom functions many cameras have. You get the image you want but the resolution is less.

If you shoot with a zoom why not use it to frame the image exactly the way you want before tripping the shutter. If you prefer prime focal length lenses, use your feet as a zoom and move around to get the subject framed exactly the way you want. Often taking a single step closer to our subject will improve the composition more than you might think. Don’t forget what Ernst Haas once said, “The most important lens you have is your legs.”

If neither of these alternatives works for a given photographic situation I use Photoshop’s Crop tool sparingly. When I do crop, including the above image of my muse Erin Valakari, I use the program’s Original Ratio option, keeping the image the same shape as the original. Sometimes with landscapes, cars and trains I’ll use a16:9 ratio because I love that wide-screen and HD video look. And I realize that I’m being inconsistent here.

If you want to hedge your bets, use Photoshop’s Image Size controls and check the Resample Image using the Bicubic Automatic option. A few years ago I tested a bunch of resizing programs for Shutterbug magazine and found that in a blind test the program’s Bicubic scored as high as even highly rated external programs.

But remember there is no free digital lunch. Every pixel you crop out is lost forever. So save those original files.

If you’re interested in shooting portraits and learning how I use cameras, lenses and lighting in my in-home studio or on location, please pick up a copy of Studio Lighting Anywhere that’s available from Amazon.com with new copies selling for $29.80. As I write this, used copies are selling from $7.06, which is a heckuva deal for all the useful information that’s found in the book.